[2018]DLCA4536 • April 17, 2018 • Court of Appeal
AMA SERWAH vs. YAW ADU GYAMFI AND VERA ADU GRAMFI
The Appellant, widow of the late Ernest Owusu Baah who died in Italy, claimed entitlement to pension payments made by the Italian institution INPS for herself and her children. She alleged that the Respondents, a married couple including her late husband's brother, fraudulently diverted pension payments totaling approximately $113,000 into a bank account opened in the Appellant's name but controlled by the Respondents. The Respondents denied the allegations, contending the payments were insurance compensation payable to the next of kin under Italian law and that the Appellant lacked capacity to sue as she had not obtained letters of administration for the deceased's estate.
read moreADUAMA OSEI JA: This is our judgment in an appeal against a judgment of the Commercial Division of the High Court, Kumasi, dated the 22nd of December, 2015, in which the High Court dismissed the action of the Plaintiff/Appellant on the ground that at the time the Plaintiff/Appellant instituted her action, she had not obtained letters of administration and therefore lacked capacity to sue, and also dismissed the counterclaim of the Defendants/Respondents on the same ground of lack of capacity. In this judgment, the Plaintiff/Appellant is referred to as “the Appellant”, and the Defendants/Respondents are referred to as “the Respondents”. The writ of summons by which the action was initiated was issued in the High Court, Kumasi, on the 14th of January, 2014, and it was indorsed for reliefs against the Respondents jointly and severally as follows: “a. An order for the recovery of the sum of One Hundred and Thirteen Thousand United States Dollars ($113,000) or its equivalent ...